


Handcuffs and Sympathy

by icandrawamoth



Series: February Ficlet Challenge 2019 [5]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Legends - All Media Types, Star Wars Legends: X-Wing Series - Aaron Allston & Michael Stackpole
Genre: F/M, February Ficlet Challenge, Handcuffs, I'm Bad At Titles, Trauma, Understanding, essentially safewording when there's not actually a safeword being used, post-Lusankya
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-07
Updated: 2019-02-07
Packaged: 2019-10-23 21:43:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 752
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17691614
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/icandrawamoth/pseuds/icandrawamoth
Summary: “Tycho, you've just spent months in prison. I wasn't going to put you back in bonds the moment you were released.”





	Handcuffs and Sympathy

**Author's Note:**

> For Feburary Ficlet Challenge day five prompt "handcuffs."

For hours after Winter picks Tycho up when NRI releases him from his hold, they just talk. About anything and everything – what Winter has been up to for the past nine months while he was away, what he wants to do now that he's free, whether he'll take some time off before returning to duty, how long she can stay before hers calls her away again...

Finally, he takes her hand and pulls her into the bedroom, and she smiles as she follows him. She knows he's been through so much, and she was trying not to rush him, but now that she's got him back without a wall between them, she wants him in every way.

They take turns undressing, eyes drinking each other in after so long apart. Then Tycho crawls onto the bed, spreading himself out on his back and raising his arms gracefully above his head, wrists crossed as he places them near the headboard.

When Winter pauses, he raises his head to give her a curious look. “The cuffs?” he prompts.

“I didn't get them out.”

“Why not?” He sounds genuinely confused.

“Tycho, you've just spend months in prison. I wasn't going to put you back in bonds the moment you were released.”

Tycho tilts his head. “This is different. I want this from you. I'm not going to let anything Isard did interfere with us.”

There's so much he's not saying about consent and trust, and she doesn't have words for how precious his faith in her is. She stops questioning him.

It takes only moments for her to dig out the handcuffs they regularly use during their intimate nights and straddle him with them in hand. His blue eyes gaze up at her, relaxed, and she can feel his hard length teasing her bottom. She kisses him, deep and lingering, then leans up to slide the cuffs around the bars of the headboard before snapping his wrists into them.

“You'll tell me if it gets to be too much.” She's not asking.

Tycho nods. “Yes, ma'am.”

Winter grins down at him, running her hands along his neck and chest. She moves against him a little, just enough to tease back. “Now. Tell me what you want, Tycho.”

“I want...” He’s trembling slightly. “I want...”

“Anything,” she assures him. She kisses his neck and runs a hand through his hair. “You only need to ask. I'll give you everything you need.”

His shaking grows more pronounced. “Winter...”

She sits up again, brow furrowing as she meets his eyes. There's something different about them, an unease that wasn't there before. “Tycho?”

He looks away, and the handcuffs clank against the bars as he shifts his arms. “Let me go,” he says quietly. “I'm sorry.”

Winter does, immediately sliding off of him and unlocking the cuffs, dropping them over the side of the bed onto the carpet. “What's going on, love?” she asks gently, not touching him now. “Can you talk to me?”

Tycho turns over on the bed as if he's trying to hide himself. “I...” He pauses, not seeming to know how to say what he's trying to.

Slowly, Winter reaches out and rubs his back. “Is this all right?”

“Yes.” Tycho takes a deep breath and finally looks at her again. “It's just... _she_ used to say things like that, when she was torturing me.” His voice tremors slightly, and Winter wants to wrap him in her arms and burn every memory of Ysanne Isard from his mind. “She made me beg for basics like food and water, and then half the time she didn't give them anyway.” He rubs a hand over his face. “I'm sorry. I said I wasn't going to let her come between us. I should be able to seperate that from this.”

Winter shakes her head. “It's fine, Tycho. You went through a trauma I can't even imagine. I'm just glad you're here beside me. I'm glad you're talking to me.”

Tycho gives her a shaky smile. “Yeah. I still...” he sighs. “I did want this, and now...”

“Don't worry about.” She leans in slowly, giving him time to pull away if he wants, and drops a gentle kiss on his cheek. “Maybe for tonight it's better if we just sleep. We can try again later, without the cuffs, I think. At least at first.”

“Okay.” He reaches up to touch her cheek. “I love you, you know.”

Winter lays her hand over his. “I do. I love you too.”


End file.
